What we need more of

November 24, 2015

It has been ages, nearly 3 months since I posted. Hi again, to the handful of faithful followers who make this worth doing.

Crazy months dealing with health issues. There is an operation coming soon, and hopefully after that things will settle down into a more normal routine again.

My art is in a turbulent period of its own. I think I included some of the newer experiments this last summer,where I was letting go of form and trying to paint more intuitively. I’ve been more comfortable with watercolour sticks (a kind of crayon that is water soluble) and collage lately, than oil paints. I want to do quick, spontaneous studies rather than labour over one painting.

Rende and I have an upcoming exhibition in a high quality interior store here in the north of Holland. He’ll be showing woodwork and photography, and I’ll hang 18 pieces, oil pastels and oil paintings. I’ll link to the site when they’ve got our info there.

I know I’ve posted the art above before here, and probably the quote as well, but it is worth repeating:

What we need more of is slow art; art that holds time as a vase holds water: art that grows out of modes of perception and making whose skill and doggedness make you think and feel; art that isn’t merely sensational, that doesn’t get its message across in ten seconds, that isn’t falsely iconic, that hooks onto something deep-running in our natures. In a word, art that is the very opposite of mass media. – Robert Hughes

Thanks very much for your blog. I enjoy looking at & reading them. That’s a very good way of combining the 3 forms of materials. I love watercolor crayons. I’ve used collage with & liquid acrylic with them. To make the acrylic ready for spraying I put a few drops of Golden Liquid Acrylic a 3 ounce spritzer & then I add water & gently shake to make sure that all of the paint has been absorbed by the water. (Sometimes the paint will drop to the bottom of the bottle.) Then one can spray on cold press 140# or 300# Arches paper to which the watercolor sticks have given a shape to the piece. I also like using stencils & spray with the acrylic watercolor solution.

Sounds like a great media mix, Jeanne! A fellow bloggerhttp://artistintheshed.com/ recently turned me onto Flora Bowley and ‘Brave, Bold intuitive painting’. I’ve ordered it to inspire me to get back to work as soon as I can, in a whole new way. Thanks for the hugs and good wishes.

First of all I hope your operation goes well, Sarah. Stay strong and be healthy; with years we realize that good health is quite an important thing in this life…

Thank you for sharing this wise quote, it’s definitely worth remembering. It’s time for all of us to finally realize that mass-production and mass-media can’t replace simple, yet true culture, lifestyle, art. K.